Conveyer.



G. A. MORRIS.

GONVEYEB.

APPLICATION FILED r112. 13, 1911.

Patented Aug. 8, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

CHARLES A. MORRIS, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, ASSIG-NOR TO OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1911.

Original application filed June 9, 1909, Serial No. 501,030. Divided and this application filed February 13, 1911. Serial No. 608,325.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. MORRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing in Montclair, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Conveyer, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a conveyer chain adapted, more particularly, for operation in a conduit, said conveyer being designed for the purposes of handling baggage or merchandise on piers or at railway stations, and for use in connection with hauling vehicles, and the like.

This application is a division of my prior application forUnited States Letters Patentfiled June 9, 1909, Serial No. 501,030.

The invention embodies a flexible doublejointed chain provided with weight carrying rollers and with direction rollers, said chain operating within a conduit so as to conform to the bends, corners, or other deviations from a straight line in the length of said conduit, whereby the chain guides and adjusts itself to the conduit, thereby obviating the employment of guide sprockets or rollers at the bends or corners of the conduit.

It is preferred to position the weight carrying rollers alternately with respect to the direct-ion rollers, and to position the rollers at the joints of the chain, whereby the weight of the chain is supported by the car rying rollers, and the movement of the chain around the corners or bends of a conduit, is facilitated by the direction rollers.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the chain is composed of links adapted to sustain or support, in whole or in part, the weight of the load to which movement is to be imparted by the chain.

Other features of the invention, and the advantages thereof, will appear from the annexed detailed description taken in connection with the drawings.

In the drawings, I have illustrated different practical embodiments of the invention, but the constructions shown therein are to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a part of a conveyer and the flexible chain adapted to operate within a conduit. Fig. 2

is a vertical cross section.

through the conduit and the conveyer. Fig. 3 is a View showing the conduit in horizontal section and the flexible chain in plan, the plane of the section being indicated by the dotted line mw of Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is an elevation showing another embodiment of conveyer chain. Fig. 5 is a detail View of a conveyer chain similar to that shown in Fig. 1 provided with an upstanding member adapted to work in a slot of the conduit for the purpose of engaging with an object which is to be pushed or carried along by the movement of the conveyer.

The conduit, 1, may be of any usual or preferred construction, but it is shown in the drawings as being positioned substantially within a floor or base, 2, said conduit 00' cupying a stationary position with respect to the floor. The conduit is composed of longitudinal sections, each section being preferably cast in one piece so that the bottom, 3, and side walls, 4, thereof are integral. The side walls are provided at their upper edges with flanges 5 which extend outwardly and then upwardly, said flanges forming recesses, 6. Plates, 7, are fitted or seated in the recessed upper edges of the conduit so as to lie substantially flush with the top edges of the flanges, and they are secured firmly to the conduit by suitable means such, for example, as screws, 8. Said plates, 7 are spaced at their inner edges for the purpose of forming a slot, 9, in the upper side of the conduit, whereby provision is made for the reception of a member adapted to couple a truck, package or other object with the traveling chain.

The conveyer shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 embodies a double jointed chain comprising pairs of long links, 10, and shorter intermediate links, 11, 12. Each link, 11, is provided with a longitudinal slot, 13, said slot extending or opening through one end of the link, see Fig. 3, the opposite end portion of said link being forked, as at 16. Link 12 is preferably shorter than link, 11, and said link, 12, is provided at one end with a tongue or shank, 1 1, and at the opposite end said link is forked or bi furcated, as at 15. A pair of links 10 are fitted within the bifurcated part, 16, of link, 11, and said links, 10, and, 11, are pivotally connected by a pintle, 17. The other ends of links, 10, are received within the bifurcated ends, 15, of the links, 12, and said links, 10 and, 12, are connected pivotally by a pintle, 18. The link, 11, is positioned next to link, 12, in such manner that the tongue or shank, 14, of link, 12, is received within the slotted part, 13, of link, 11, and said links, 11. and 12, are connected pivotally by a pintle, 19. It will be understood from the foregoing that the pairs of links, 10, are connected at one end to the forked part, 16, of one link, 11, by a pintle, 17, while the other end of said links, 10, are connected to the forked part, 15, of the other link, 12, by a pintle, 18, said bintles, 17, and, 18, extending through the links of the 'chain in one direction, for instance, vertically. Links, 11 and 12, are connected by the pintles, 19, which pintles, 19, extend through the links of the chain in a direction at an angle, preferably, at a right angle, to pintles, 17 and 18. This construction of the chain enables the links to bend or flex in two directions, the pintles, 17 and 18, permit the links to bend in a horizontal direction, while the pintles, 19, allow the links to turn in a vertical plane. The chain is thus adapted to travel within an irregular conduit, and to conform to said conduit at the bends and corners thereof.

To sustain the weight of the chain and the load which may be imposed thereon, in whole or in part, and to reduce the frictional contact between said chain and the bottom, 3, of the conduit, I provide the.

chain with rollers, 20, said rollers being mounted to turn freely on pintles, 19. These rollers, are preferably arranged in pairs, and exteriorly to the links, said rollers being positioned at the end portions of pintles, 19, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Rollers 21, 22, are positioned to rotate freely on pintles, l7, and, 18, respectively, said rollers 21, 22, being employed to reduce the frictional contact of the chain with the walls, 4, of the conduit when the chain travels around corners or bends in said conduit. Said rollers 21, 22, are mounted in the forked or bifurcated ends 15, 16, of links 11, and 12, respectively, and between the end portions of the pair of links, 10. These rollers 21, 22, are arranged between, or in alternate relation to, the rollers 20. By reference to Figs. 1 and 3, it will be observed that rollers 21, 22, rotate on axes which are at right angles to the axes of rotation of the rollers 20. Thus the direction rollers, 21, 22, work within the links, while the pairs of weight sustaining rollers, 20, operate exteriorly to the links.

It is not desired to limit the invention to the form or character of links illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, for the reason that I may employ chains of the forms shown inFigs. 4 and 5. The links 23, 24, of said chains are loosely connected to each other, similar to an ordinary link chain, so as to permit flexibility of the chain in various directions.

In the construction shown in Fig. 5, and the left portion of Fig. 4, each link is provided with a single roller. One roller, is positioned within link, 23, and is mounted to turn freely on a vertical pintle, 27. Another roller, 26, is arranged to turn freely within an adjacent link, 24, and rotates on a horizontal pintle, 28; said rollers 25 and 26, thus rotate on axes which are at right angles to each other.

The right hand portion of Fig. 4 illustrates the weight carrying and direction rollers, arranged in pairs, as at 25, 26. The rollers, 25 26, are positioned exteriorly to the links 23, 24, instead of rotating within said links.

The chain illustrated in Fig. 5 is similar to that of Fig. 4, except that an upstanding member, 29, is provided on a vertically disposed link, 23. Said member, 29, is adapted to work within slot, 9, of the conduit, and to project above said conduit, for the purpose of engaging with a package or other object which is to be pushed along by the operation of the conveyor.

It is not desired to limit the invention to any particular cross sectional form of conduit, nor to the specific conduit herein shown and described, for the reason that said conduit may be varied in form and construction, as may be deemed suitable or desirable.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a conveyer, a conduit, and a chain the links of which are jointed by pivots positioned substantially at right angles to each other, said chain being provided with Weight carrying rollers and with direction rollers, said rollers being adapted to ride in contact with the bottom and the side walls, respectively, of the conduit.

2. In a conveyer, a conduit having a slot in one wall thereof, a double jointed link chain adapted to travel therein below the slot, and separate series of rollers mounted at the axes of motion of the links, the axes of the rollers on one series being at right angles to the axes of motion of the other series, the rollers of one series being positioned for engagement with the side walls of the conduit, and the rollers of the other series being adapted to ride upon the bottom of the conduit.

3. In a conveyer, a haul chain the links of which are connected by pivots positioned substantially at right angles to each other, said chain being provided with weight carrying rollers and with direction rollers, said rollers being positioned at the joints of the links.

4. In a conveyer, a conduit, and a link chain operating therein, the links of said chain being flexibly connected by two series of pintles, one series of which is at right angles to the pintles of the other series, direction rollers mounted on the pintles of one series and positioned for engagement with the vertical side walls of the conduit, and weight carrying rollers mounted on the pintles of the other series and positioned for traveling engagement with the bottom of the conduit.

In a conveyer, a conduit, and a flexibly jointed link chain operating therein, the links of said chain being connected by horizontal pintles and vertical pintles, direction rollers mounted on the vertical pintles and positioned for engagement with vertical side walls of said conduit, and weight carrying rollers mounted on the horizontal pintles and adapted for traveling engagement with the bottom of said conduit.

6. In a conveyer, a conduit, and a double jointed link chain operating therein, said chain having two series of rollers positioned at the respective joints thereof, the two series of rollers being positioned for traveling contact with the vertical side walls and the bottom, respectively, of said conduit.

7. In a conveyer, a double jointed chain comprising links connected flexibly by two series of pintles, the pintles of one series being at an angle to the pintles of the other series, a series of direction rollers on the pintles of one series, and weight carrying rollers on the pintles of the other series.

8. In a conveyer, a flexible chain comprising links and two series of pintles connecting said links, weight carrying rollers on the pintles of one series, and direction rollers on the pintles of the other series, said direction rollers and the weight carrying rollers being of substantially the same diameter.

9. In a conveyer, a double jointed link chain comprising links, the top, bottom and side edges of which are in the same plane, two series of pintles flexibly connecting the links, the pintles of one series being at right angles to the pintles of the other series, direction rollers on the pintles of one series, and weight carrying rollers on the pintles of the other series.

10. In a conveyer, a double jointed chain comprising a plurality of link sections pivoted at their meeting ends by horizontal pintles and other bar links pivoted to one of the link sections by vertical pintles, weight carrying rollers on the horizontal pintles, and direction rollers on the vertical pintles.

11. In a conveyer, a double jointed chain comprising short link sections joined together by horizontal pintles, and bar links joined to the link sections by vertical pintles, said bar links exceeding in length the link-sections, weight carrying rollers on the horizontal pintles, and direction rollers on the vertical pintles.

12. In a conveyer, a double jointed chain comprising link sections joined by pintles extending in one direction through the same, bar links joined to said link sections by pintles extending therethrough at right angles to the first named pintles, said bar links exceeding the length of the link sections, weight carrying rollers mounted on the pintles of one series, and direction rollers positioned on the pintles of the other series.

13. In a conveyer, a double jointed chain comprising unitary link sections joined to each other by horizontal pintles, bar links arranged in pairs and joined to the link sections by vertical pintles, weight carrying rollers on the horizontal pintles, and direction rollers on the vertical pintles.

1a. In a conveyer, a double jointed chain comprising unitary link sections and bar links flexibly connected by two series of pintles which extend through the chain in directions at right angles to the length of said chain, a pair of weight carrying rollers on each horizontal pintle, and a single direction roller on each vertical pintle.

15. In a conveyer, a double jointed chain comprising unitary link sections, each pair of which is flexibly connected by a horizontal pintle, and said sections having their other ends forked, bar links fitted in the forked ends of said unitary link sections and pivoted thereto by vertical pintles, weight carrying rollers on the horizontal pintles, and direction rollers on the vertical pintles.

16. In a conveyer, a double jointed chain comprising unitary link sections, each bifurcated at one end and connected at its other end to a similar section by a horizontal pintle, bar links disposed in pairs and. having their endsfitted in the bifurcated ends of the unitary link sections, the link sections and the bar links being united by vertical pintles, weight carrying rollers on the horizontal pintles, and direction rollers on the vertical pintles.

17. In a conveyer, a double jointed chain comprising unitary link sections, each pair of which is united by a horizontal pintle, pairs of bar links, each pair of which is united by vertical pintles to the unitary link sections, a pair of weight carrying rollers on each horizontal pintle, and a single direction roller on each vertical pintle.

18. In a conveyer, a double jointed chain composed of unitary links positioned in a vertical plane, bar links positioned in a horizontal plane, horizontal pintles uniting the adjoining unitary links, vertical pintles uniting the ends of the bar links-to the unitary links, direction rollers on the vertivertical pintles, and Weight carrying rollers cal pintles, and Weight carrying rollers on on the horizontal pintles. the horizontal pintles. In testnnony whereof I have signed my 19. In a conveyer a double jointed chain name to this specification in the presence of 5 comprising unitary link sections pivoted to two subscribing Witnesses. each other by horizontal pintles, bar links w pivoted to the unitary link sections by Ver- CHARLES MORRIS tical pintles, the plane of the bar links be- \Vitnesses:

ing at a right angle to the plane of the uni- H. I. BERNHARD, 10 tary link sections, direction rollers on the J. F. MOTI-IERsHEAD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

